Saturday, 7 September 2013

There has been a bit of aggro lately with some trying to take over the home ed world, thinking they know best and trying to speak for us all. Not happening! We are all different. We all home ed in our own particular way. Don't need ID cards to prove you home ed or to get into venues and you CERTAINLY should not be paying for them when you can print your own up for free!

You should be able to discuss freely, without (1) censorship or (2) threat. It has happened and still is going on. If you are being booted off a site just for asking questions that are relevant, then that site doesn't have home ed best interests at heart. imo. Just its own. Blocking or booting people off because you don't like the questions being asked just means that the picture painted is not exactly truthful. Enter the naive newbies! Like lambs to slaughter. Can't be warned by the wise and experienced because of 1 and 2 above. Don't allow these people to slowly eradicate our hard fought home ed rights. Don't forget Badman and Balls! The stuff of nightmares.

Sunday, 1 September 2013

Junior decided to bake last night...at 9.30pm. Cake came out of the oven at 11.30pm! She baked it first for 25 mins and had a look. Said it was still liquidy, so put it back in. Came out not liquidy! And, It weighs a fair bit. Home made brick. lol Hmmmmm...Anyway, it needs eating up, so we had a piece today. Next piece we have, I suspect, will be with custard to help it go down.

Monday, 12 August 2013

I know I'm talking to myself. At least I have a record of what I say. lol

It is late. 11.38pm. Munchie time in our house.

The animals like to eat at this time. We had the 'share a packet of ham' time earlier on. All the mogs congregate for their bit. Tinks, you can hear her 'nom nomming'. Very funny. Looloo and Popeye always turn up late! I can hear Muppet aka Darth Vader slobberingly eating her grub...in peace. Meg is munching on biscuits. Spook is eating, too. All well and happy. Litters cleaned.. Wonder if little Darthy will leave me another little pressie tonight?

Today, I spent ages grooming our lot. 8 cats done. 3 and the dog left to do. They all get groomed weekly in this weather. Amazing how much they moult.

Earlier on tonight, on my way up to the shops, I spotted a stray ginger and white. I thought that when I come back, I would grab it and try and sort it out. Couldn't find it. I will try again tomorrow evening. The poor thing looked awful. Walking all wobbly. I can't believe that such shit goes on in this day and age. I have a neighbour/former friend who thinks that food banks aren't needed and those who use them are just scroungers and lazy buggers. People on benefits are the scum of the earth, type of thing. I despair at the lack of empathy of some people. It's such an unattractive feature. Ack... You know those cartoons where the characters jump up and down in frustration? Well, that's me at the moment.

Wednesday, 7 August 2013

So, I took advantage of early retirement......before this government decides to screw me out of everything I've worked for. State retirement age gets worse. I'll never make it! Pension just covers the rent. That's it. Why take early retirement? Rickety joints. ...... Hurt like FUCK! Sorry for the language, but it hurts. You try being all happy and la la when you can't climb up or down stairs, get in the bath, get on or off the loo, put your hair into a pony tail, open jars/bottles, chop food/wipe your arse, etc. Makes you extremely bad-tempered, narky...whatever. Can't do what you want to do..decorate the house, clean the house....... Fatigue, blah, blah, blah. Pay all your life into the 'system'. Does it pay you back? Bleurghhhh! Nooooo...you have to pay MORE taxes. Can you get help with appropriate housing? You need somewhere without stairs. Hahahahaha.....joke. Nooo....pay more taxes..... Got to keep the big guys in council going. Big fat six figure salaries, while the rest of us live below minimum wage/poverty line. Gah. They don't give a shoo about us. Politicians. All as bad. Only ever come round when it's voting time. Sometimes, they don't even bother with that! Never mind. They've got £69,000 minimum to live on per annum....plus expenses....

Tuesday, 6 August 2013

I was worried a while back...about a certain 17 year old mog....Muppet aka Darth Vader......she of 'The Snore'. She has nodules in her nose. She's too old for ops and all that. As long as she's happy then I'll not bother with the vet and all that.

So, she's still with us, obviously. A fighter. That's the feral bit. I don't mean as in fisticuffs, but in existence.

She has started to come to me more. Wants to be near..but not too near. Always on her terms. She has this cute little trill. Half miaow, half Rrrrrrrrr. Gets me every time..and the other mogs tolerate her...almost protectively. There are plenty of soft surfaces to lie and relax on here, but she prefers the wooden floorboards or laminate or floor tiles. Tough as old boots.

Ah, yes. Sweet and lovely little elderly Darthy. Shits at the drop of a hat. Nine times out of ten, not in the cat litters........sigh........AND...her sister, Spooky, is nearly as bad. A portly mog. Cantankerous...so the others give her 'what for'. Spook's another fighter, though. Toughie. x

I have just fed the mogs, again. They have all retired to comfy beddings. Darthy is asleep....flat out on the laminate flooring! Snoring away. Bless.

Thursday, 20 June 2013

We have bumblebees in our garden. They are nesting under one of the sheds. And, we have tree bees, too. Good job I let the garden go a bit. Lots of wild flowers for them to seek out and munch, speak.

And...our nesting blackbirds have....produced. This little lady came within 2 feet of me. She is so lovely.

Olive posing, with Popeye in the background.....'let me at them thar birds!' They swoop down and torment my felines. Haha.

I knew the bumble bees'd come back. And the frogs. Yay! They know a good gig! Yay. Pfffffffff to the politically correct gardening neighbours!!! I've got birds nesting, frogs, bees, etc. You have ......?

Saturday, 13 April 2013

My daughter in law is in hospital with pre eclampsia. She is only 34 weeks on. She's not been well with this pregnancy for a bit. Looking it up on the internet, she has had the classic symptoms of PE. The baby is very small (3lbs) and they think they might induce birth tomorrow...so the baby could be 'here' on Monday. She and Son no 2 said they wanted me at the birth...so I am on tenterhoooks. Can't wait to meet my newest, dearest grandaughter.

I am praying that Mum and Baby will be fine. Please send them positive thoughts.

Thursday, 11 April 2013

Yes, her backside still has a mind of its own.... I spend time putting newspapers around the litter entrances, in case of 'misses'. What does she do? Misses on purpose. Yes, I am sure of it. It's like she's saying "I'll bloody well make sure you remember me!'

Don't know what it is, but the mogs seem to be settling down at bedtime. It's probably the cold weather and so the lure of a nice warm radiator/bed is much more tempting than a cold, windy cat run. Keeping them fed and warm keeps ensures a peaceful...ish night. Half a dozen mogs on your feet tends to stop blood flow! lol. Anyway...

Sunday, 7 April 2013

Little Darth Vader is not well at all. She is so old. So thin....it goes with the 'territory' apparently. She wheezes away..happily lounging on the window sill....above a hot radiator!...Bum warming is her favourite activity nowadays...and eating and crapping to excess. She doesn't always wheeze,

Today, I noticed that she had some nose snot. blood coloured. Maybe that means that her nose nodules have bust a bit. I dunno. Don't want her to suffer but, equally, don't want to give up on her easily just because she is old. She seems happy enough. Being a semi-feral she has been a complete PAIN up the A.... when it comes to being a 'normal cat' re petting, flea treatment, worming, etc. But, nowadays, she seems to want attention and...closeness, She'll let me groom her now. Wow! She'll still do a sneaky on me and crap on the bedroom floor! Ack! Not a nice aroma at 4am!!! The other mogs approach her and she trills....and they back off in respect. You have to see it to believe it.

Still... I will blub when 'the time comes'...and it's not too far now.

Thursday, 4 April 2013

That retching sound! Not something you want to hear at 4am...especially if it's under the bed!

You can hear them starting with the gloop, gloop, gloop. So, I race towards the noise and try and usher the little vomit freak to somewhere more suitable re; more easily wipeable surface. Sigh... They don't have favourite 'puking sites'. Anywhere will do, although they often try to camouflage their 'present' against the rug or carpet..or under a chair. If they've 'chameleoned' it then chances are you'll put your foot in it! Ack.

And the vomiting? It's usually due to over stuffing or fur balls. The latter are mank! So we groom them alot.

Yesterday evening I felt sorry for Darth Vader and opened her a tin of tuna. She sucks on her food nowadays and I thought mushed up fish would be ok for her. It was. She ate a bit and Tinks had a bit. The others weren't bothered. Anyway, I turns my back for a minute and it was all gone. Hmmm...one of the others must have eaten it.

Five minutes later, I can hear the gloop, gloop, gloop coming from the lounge and there they were. Two nice piles of nice, warm bleurgh....courtesy of the dog! Greedy little toerag had burgled the tuna from behind my back. She thinks cat food is nicer than her Senior Dog Food and so will nick it before eating her own. From now on, she's barred to the other side of the dog gate until feline feeding time is over.

Feeding time leads on to the next. The Joys of Animal Ownership Part 3 - The Pecking Order.

It goes on everywhere. It sucks, as they say...especially in the feline world.

Well, Spook..one of the Old Ladies, is a cantankerous little sod, I have to say. But, she is just set in her ways. However, some of the younger mogs delight in 'ambushing' her. Let me say that this does her no good....16 year old heart and all that....and she poops herself when they do that to her. So, I am protective of her...and her sis Darth Vader..(.but she is much more wiley and streetwise and has the others 'sussed and under control'. :o))) ) Muppet.aka Darth Vader, is a skinny little thing. Spook is not. Think basketball on legs. Spook sleeps at my side on the bed. Protection for her..and I don't blame her. The others usually prefer to be at the foot of or under the bed. Popeye will do his best to harass her, if he's about. He is just a naughty, loveable boy. Tinks likes to ambush en-route to or from the litter. Spook isn't fussed. She'll crap anywhere!! Bowels aren't what they used to be!!

So, I am on a mission for 'A peaceful night's sleep'. If I separate the 'unruly' lot from the 'goodies' then there is pandemonium. PARTAY!!! If I let them kip together, then my day starts at 5am. To any feline lover...that is......litter time!!...and then all the house is awake! Arghh. To any Rheumatoid Arthritis sufferer....anyone who interrupts your kip (unless it's your bladder and co')...then......grrrrr.

I would not be bothered in the slightest if we lived in a detached house.....if only....... The mogs just like to play....at the wrong time of day, of course! It's just how it is. We can hear our neighbours all the time. They don't see it that way, though.

Tip: If you, for some reason, find yourself 'with kitten'....DON'T fall for the 'Oh, Mummy, can we keep them all...I'LL LOOK AFTER THEM..PROMISE!' Pah!

Monday, 1 April 2013

It's still cold...freezing. I'm having to wear fingerless gloves IN THE HOUSE! We still have a bus load of snow in the back garden and I have only just managed to prise my way out of the back door. With the garden room..which is really a greenhouse,lean-to type of construction, every time I open the door..down comes a whole wodge of snow and ice because of the vibrations. Not good if it lands on your head. So, we have avoided the back until now. I had to hack away the snow and ice and chiselled a little path to the main garden using a garden hoe. Can't put salt down to 'melt' the snow and ice because of the dog. Went out there, to the bottom and put some food out for the birds. Mealworms (Eeew) and bread crumbs. I doubt they'll eat them. Don't know why that is because they do come into the garden and the sparrows are nesting in the hedge. Could be that my 'bird cuisine' is not up to scratch? Never put mealworms down before, though, so maybe they'll eat them.

Poor Junior has not been feeling well. She has started with the lurgy.. - 'bunged-up sore throat'..as she puts it. So, she has been miserable and ratty. The mogs have sensed this and the majority of them have 'stayed well clear'...and bunked in with me! lol I bought her some nail varnish to cheer her up. When all else fails.... lol.

Now that I have sort of managed to suss out my new camera, here are some gratuitous pics.

Henry and Tinks looking out at the white stuff. There's a radiator under this window sill, so they are multi-tasking and bum warming as well as surveying the land.

Henry with his 'Have you seen that...where's it coming from?' look. He's a very talkative, friendly and nice chap. He trills and talks away to Junior. Tinks has a new fetish and likes to play with hair bobbles. We hide them but the mog still finds them. You can hear her 'pinging' them around the house.

Saturday, 30 March 2013

I have stabbing headaches now and again and earache, too. It's like when I tip my head..a little elastic band twangs me in protest, saying 'Keep still!'. Arghhhh.... Might have to wear my deer hunter type wollie hat INSIDE the house to keep my brain warm. In fact, I will. Don't care if I look like a bit of a plonker.

Remarkably, the old rickety joints that make me hobble seem to have had a few days off. Has the RA gone? No...the RA's picking on my skull and ear bones now, as per above. It does that...wanders about the old bod and occasionally picks on different bones/joints for the torture. Weird. Bleurghhh!

Junior has been baking. I went out to get supplies from the local shop (leccy and cat food) and came back to find a PILE of pots in the previously clean and empty sink. That's the deal. She bakes and then forgets about the pots. lol The Washing Up Fairy will do it. Ah well....I shall tuck into lovingly iced and chocolated cupcakes.

Cinnamon Swirl and Custard. Made the other day using puff pastry, smearing of mincemeat and chocolate spread and then rolled up, sliced and baked. Lovely when it's warm. When it's cold..as in next day...it can be used as a weapon! I think I inadvertently invented a new super glue! lol

The Choc Drop Cupcakes. When I reminded Junior that we had a load of chocolate in for baking purposes, I meant that she could melt in and use as an icing...not as an embelishment. Still, v nice with a cuppa.

Tuesday, 12 March 2013

Ah..bugger! I am knee deep in crap. Not THAT sort, but crap nonetheless.

To start with, we seem to have enough cardboard boxes in this house to build a..'I'll huff and I'll puff' house. We are in the process of decluttering. Ack.....I hate doing this. How do we end up with so much stuff? And, just to add to the chaos, Junior is clearing out her stuff, too which always ends up on the landing. To her mind, as long as it's out of her room, that's ok...sigh... The bagging/boxing it all up is not her job!
You see, my main predicament is re all those unwanted/too small/too big clothes. I'm terrible. The upcycler in me sees their potential for transformation into something else. Chop them up into squares.....quilts, cut into strips....rag rugs, chop chop.....and there you might have something else as equally useful. 'Noooooo' says Junior. 'Get rid of it all NOW!' So, I ignore her and chop away, saving buttons, zips, embelishments, etc and just as I think I may be getting somewhere and reducing the pile, I spots an item of clothing that she wore at a certain place/time/etc and I go all glassy-eyed and warble at the memories..... and think to myself that I'll keep that one for the memories. WRONG! You see, before I can say 'charity shop/car boot sale', I have a 4 foot pile of memories in front of me...and nowhere to store it. Sigh.... And, don't even get me started on the nik naks and junk aka stuff rescued from Mother's.....I love me stuff:o)
Where to put it all, though?

I know! Get another shed. Yay! My friend has one for just the same purpose. To store stuff that she can't let go of but hasn't got room for in the house. So, she has the best of both worlds...space (that she'll no doubt fill again) and 'custody' of her things with 'full access rights'. Lol

Shed No 5. What d'ya think? I can hear the 'Noooooooo' at this end already. lol

Friday, 8 March 2013

Tuesday, 26 February 2013

There was I, cleaning out and refilling the cat litters that are housed in the lean-to/garden room. Long, boring job. Cats Best litter, bin liners, poly roll, lavender and orange smelling Dettol, mop and bucket and iTunes..all at the ready. Junior won't do this task, even though half the mogs are hers...unless she is rewarded handsomely and I cross her palm with a ridiculous amount of money. (Last time she wangled twenty quid out of me for fifteen minutes work. ) No minimum wage for that one!

So, instead of giving Ms Trump I am hard at work and the mogs wander in and eye me up.. I know this behaviour. It's called 'hovering and then going for it'. They dive into the cleaned out litters and leave me a 'present' now and again..instead of waiting until I'm finished! It's like...'Hurry up...I'm desperate..sorry, gotta go!' lol

Then, I spot it and her! Muppet..by name and muppet by nature..has kindly left a pressie...where the litter usually is. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh! Well, at least it was 'firm' and not like 'soup' this time! She hasn't been well lately and I thought she was 'on her way out', if you get my meaning. Rasping with her breathing, snoring, dribbling and crapping 'outside the box'. I put it down to imminent departure time and have been spoiling her rotten and she's been milking it for all its worth. I hate smug cats sometimes. Sigh. Well, think she has developed nodules in her nose and that explains her 'noise'. She has the Darth Vader sound! You can hear her Darth Vadering around the house.

Anyway, before I can get myself together, she stares at me as she wanders off into the house and gives the 'Can't get the staff' look. Ooooooooooooooooo!Rat Bag aka Darth Vader is at the back.

METHODPut the peppers in the oven so the skins blacken a bit. Should take about 15/20 mins.Chop the veg up. I have them all roughly the same size.Fry up the aubergine, slowly in the oil. It soaks oil up really quickly, so add water if it gets dry.Add the chopped fennel seeds. These really make a difference.Add onions, then chopped garlic. Sautee for a few minutes to soften. Don't let it colourAdd courgettes and mushrooms. I like the courgettes to have a bit of a bite in the finished dish.Add the dried herbs, salt and pepper. Stir for a few minutes.Add the passata and a bit of water if it's too thick. I don't like my ratatouille too watery.Add the tomato puree and stir in, with the sugar. Sometimes, tomato can be a bit tart, so that's why we add sugar...but you don't have to.Let it simmer for 10/15 minutes.Meanwhile....take the peppers out of the oven . The skins should be blackened. Pop them on a chopping board and the skins should come off easily. They will, obviously, be hot, so use a serrated knife and fork to get the skins off and scrape out the seeds. You don't want these in your finished dish. I know people say stick them in a pastic bag or cover with clingfilm so they steam up..but I think it's too much of a fiddle and the skins come off pretty easily my way...doing a Frank Sinatra here! lolChop up the peppers roughly and add to the stew. (I know it's a faff, but the peppers taste differently done this way. Creamier. None of the burpy repeats, if you get my meaning, that you get with raw or braised? Raw pepper gives me that aftertaste! Yuk. )
Add a knob of butter or marg..it gives it a bit of a creaminess.
Adjust your seasoning and serve.Don't have it boiling hot. Let it cool a tad. Tastes better then.
We had ours on gnocchi with chopped up mozzarella cheese.
I had some today with a 'buttered' mini baguette and some chunks of mozzarella plonked in the stew. (we had mozz that needed using up)

I suppose you could blend the stew, if you have any 'Bits of veg in my food' haters and use it as a sauce. lol I should think that you'd be able to freeze it. Put a freezer bag inside a plastic container. Pour in the Ratatouille and seal. Keep in the container. Put them in the freezer. When frozen you can take the bag out of the box and the bag containing the stew will stack up nicely in the freezer and you can use the box again. That way you get to store frozen stuff of the same size in nice portions. Easier to keep in the freezer in an ordered way. I hate it when you open the freezer door and stuff comes shooting out because everything is frozen in odd shapes.

Thursday, 7 February 2013

Bought Junior a blummin top of the range laptop. FOR HER EDUCATION. Not for Crimble.

It is pink. She likes pink......

I just happened to be ordering it on 't'internet' as she walked by.

'Ooooo...look at this'...says moi. 'Lovely colour'.

She informs me that she prefers the blue....after I'd pressed 'Send' and ordered the pink!! Arghhhhhhh and bloody Bollocks!!

Well, no worries. New laptop..up to the minute technology and all that. Bound to impress.....?

Nope...No interest. She prefers her phone for all the techy stuff. Arggggggggghh x a million (don't know how to do the indices stuff on here).

So, we have come to an agreement.

She can have my tablet (sob) and I will have the laptop (blub). She can peruse stuff without needing a magnifying glass...and can print stuff up via our new wireless printer that, I might add, I connected up ALL BY MYSELF! Woo hoo. Not bad for an old git like me.

Seriously, tablets...way to go. I watch (or used to) watch BBC iPlayer and all manner of things in bed, at night, in peace..all comfy and warm...mogs slumbering, comfy, happy on the bed..peace.....and then plop it down at the side of my bed. Night night everyone. NO SUCH THING WITH LAPTOP. Too heavy to plop at side of bed.. Need to unplug, so the 'Get out of comfy, warm bed' thing comes into play...then there's the 'put it somewhere safe that is mogproof' thing. Sigh... Not good when brain is half asleep. So....if anyone dares question my integrity regarding Junior's home edding...then... Grrrrrrrrr.

Wednesday, 6 February 2013

Ready made costs a BLIDDY FORTUNE!! I REALLY hope this works. Vanilla extract is a nice addition to baking.

So..wandered around Tescos tonight, trying to spot the cheapest bottle of vodka...Tell you..hanging around the spirits aisle is hard work. Why did I have a guilty conscience? lol All those beady eyes watching you as you peruse the prices.... Was wanting to tell folk 'It's not for me...just for the experiment'. sigh

Well...chickened out... the prices were more than I was willing to dosh out for anyway..so we ended up at our local 'Convenient but over-priced' local supermarket. Well...£10.65 for a full bottle. Obviously, lots of vodka heads live here!

So...tomorrow....vanilla pods will be split and plonked in the alcohol.Only have a 6 month wait to see it it's successful. (3 months minimum, 6 months for the good stuff)

If I ever get to Ukraine, shall bring a few bottles back! lol Mum and Dad brought some back when they visited in 1991 and, I tell you....nothing compares. It is SO beautifully smooth..nice..bestest stuff ever.

Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Anyway, I was contacted the other day by a long, lost relative from Ukraine. Mum and Dad are from Ukraine. World War 2 ripped families apart, ours included. It's so tragic. Lost relatives, memories. We never had opportunities to love and get to know our nearest and dearest. My mum is so very bitter about this.

I used to get so mad, as a young kid, when friends used to slag off and bitch and moan about their relatives. Oh, what I would give to have been able to have my aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents.

My parents, particularly my Dad...who was conscripted by the Ruskies when he was 17 to fight in WW2, never liked to talk about the war. Too traumatic. He never saw his family again, apart from his older sister in 1991 after Ukraine gained independence from Russia. Good old Gorbachov. Anyway, Dad never liked stew.....for instance. We never had gravy with our meals. He always had to know what he was eating. Memories of rats, cats, dogs, etc..that he had to eat to stay alive in the prisoner of war camp.

Do you know, I can't believe how cruel man can be to fellow man..and other living things. We are truly awful.

Anyway, I am going to try and build up a family tree. We know nothing really about our rellies and I am hoping that we can sort out who we are, genealogy-wise. Am going to set up another blog...just for our family tree. When I get it going, I'll let you know.

I got a map of the Ukraine up on Mapquest...and blubbed. Like I said, what I would have given as a young child to be able to hug my grannies and grandads, uncles and aunties. What I would give now, even as an antiquated old sod. lol

Junior has a Wii. I got dragged into doing the Wii Fit last year. Junior was on it the other day and Wii mentioned that it hadn't seen me for a while. So, I went on. It had me doing balancing exercises to assess my fitness. Not good when you have rickety joints like me. I keeled over after about half a second of standing on one leg..and my centre of gravity is..crap.

Well, it told my what I already know and that I am a fat sod. It also told me that my Wii Fit age is........75!

Well, after all the exertion, last night I fell asleep on the sofa. Don't normally do that at night. Day time yes, 'cos I am getting on a bit and us oldies need our afternoon siesta..sometimes, but night time noooooo. I'm usually upstairs sat on my rocking chair, by the radiator, either reading or crafting.

Somehow, I woke up.....at just after 3am....... Something woke me up. I was nice and toasty warm, so it wasn't the cold, obviously. And the old bladder wasn't calling, either!

Eeeek.

Do you give spooks a name? Neighbour on the road has one called Robbie and says only the kids can see it.

Tuesday, 29 January 2013

We live in an old terraced house. Nooks and crannies, House that Jack built, type of place. I like it, even though it's a tad damp, everything is knackered, only one plug point in each bedroom...and we have a ghost.

Well, we have the 11 mogs and Cilla dog to guard and protect us! Ha! The mogs growl sometimes...usually at night. I catch them looking up at the ceilings..growling...sometimes on the sofa..growling..sometimes looking at the windows and doors...growling. Very menacing sound. The Old Ladies are getting on a bit now....16 years of age! Tah Dah!! Muppet and Spooky. Pressie from my Big Bro. Semi-feral dudes. Given me the run a round for 16 years.

Mupps isn't well. Old age. She rasps when she breathes, but whizzes around like a young 'un..when she's in the mood and she is also the biggest feline nag on this planet. Moaning Myrtle is her nickname...per Junior. Anyway, I worry about her. She wheezes, rasps and snores...even when she's awake. Pick her up and she's light as a feather. Old age wearing her out. So, when I hear wooing, wheezing, rasping, snoring...it's usually her.... But, sometimes it's Honeypot, who is Megan's daughter. She nicks the dog's biscuits. Can you believe that a cat likes Baker's Complete Senior? Carries them, one at a time, to her mistress's feet...aka Junior...who is so fed up with this ritual now that she does the teenage thing.....and ignores. So, mournful miaows are down to Honeypot...usually.

So....I am sat at my desk, at night. I can hear this noise....high-pitched 'Woooooo'. But this was not just a mournful miaow...it was more...high-pitched (think Psycho!)

Sometimes, they, the mogs, 'Woo'...just for the hell of it. Make some noise and annoy the humans. But this noise... it goes on.....in the cat run...outside. But, all the mogs are inside. Lightbulb in head goes on. (Been watching too much of Most Haunted). Eeeek. Who/what is it then?

Oh s***.Muppet and Spooky

Junior and I a few years back

Junior and her cousin..Big Bro's daughter

Frowny Honeypot

Junior and Megan..in their fave armchair..watching Mona the Vampire

Olive..doing some research

Well, our resident spook likes to open a built-in cabinet door in the living room....at 3 am, usually. This is why most of the mogs and Cilla congregate on my bed at about....Oooooooh...9pm. Also, lighbulbs and general electric stuff sometimes short, for no reason. Our back passage light has been out for months...too high for me to replace. Tonight....it works!....as does the plug socket. Eeeeek. We have a DIY ghost. Yay!

So, I tell myself that I am a rational, brave person. I can suss this out.

All I can put it down to is the wind outside...playing on some polycarbonate sheeting that the snow dumped off our garden room roof and that I subsequently picked up and propped up against the cat run. Rolf Harris does a similar 'turn' with a piece of bendy wood. lol

Wind has calmed down a bit. No more strange noises. All animals, except Olive, who is by my side..purring, are upstairs. All is well...until......Eeeeeek!

Monday, 28 January 2013

Still got an amber coloured oven glass window and some bits still embedded on the hob...around the plates. And I had to scrub like a mad woman to get the bits off that I did! If I scrub any more then the enamel will come off!! Pah! Bang goes my vision/dream of easy easy clean in. I'll give it another go and see if it makes any difference. I used the whole 1kg bag of bicarb, so will have replenish supplies. Don't know where I'm going wrong. Maybe my oven and hob are past it?

Was nice not to be breathing in chemicals, though, while I scrubbed away.

Saturday, 26 January 2013

I managed to find a site where I can buy a wodge of Bicarb of Soda..1kg upwards instead of those little pots you see in the supermarkets. Yay! And they sell herbs and spices..most things you can think of actually. So, I did a 'tester' buy to suss them out, even though they have good reviews, and this morning received my Bicarb, whole nutmegs, vanilla pods (to be used in the making of my own vanilla extract..you put them in vodka and leave!!) and some dandelion root to be used in herbal tea.

I hope the bicarb works. I can't scrub too well because of the old rickety joints, which is really frustrating, I tell you. Does my head in. So, having viewed a tip off Pinterest, I'm gonna mix up a paste and slap it on my electric hob, which is HORRENDOUSLY ingrained with dried up sploshes from cooking. The oven door could do with it, too. Too embarassed to do a before and after, but might do if the paste works. lol

Meanwhile, mega icicles here. One (the biggest) is hanging from the guttering over our front door! Yikes. Might need to knock it before it does someone an injury, but how to get up there? We are told that a final heavy snow is on its way tonight and then heavy rain....and the big melt. Sigh.... Might be able to get out of the back door, at last! lol

Monday, 21 January 2013

It's soooooo cold outside. I can't get out of the back garden room door into the back garden. It's all wedged and iced up to oblivion.....and it's bin day tomorrow! Yikes. Worse still, it's the bin with all the cat litter that's due to be emptied. I pay the council extra for this. My little darlings have been rather prolific in the 'Must go to the toilet department' lately. It's the cold...makes 'em go! You know how it is. So, I am about to embark on the epic task of trying to squeeze the old body out of said garden room, try and find the bin, which is entombed in snow and ice, attempt to open the iced up back garden gate, oik the bin to the front pavement so our heroic bin men can empty it tomorrow....if they can get the lid open, that is! They've got to turn up first, though. Wonder if they will?

What to do about mega iced up lid, which is clamped SHUT? Do I spray the lid seal with de-icer or what?

Saturday, 19 January 2013

Yes, more of the white stuff today. Our brave Tesco people delivered our order. lol.. We have our Snowed In supplies. lol

Actually, it's quite nice just staying in and pootling about.

I rang my Mum, who is 82 and lives 70 miles away, just checking she's ok with all this cold weather and stuff. She feeds the birds. There's a tree outside her first floor flat and all manner of creatures congregate there. You name it, they are there. There is an ongoing squabble between a pair of magpies and a grey squirrel. All over food, of course. Robins feed off Mum's hand, woodpecker lives in the tree, pigeons and doves are about, thrushes, etc..... Anyway, Mum has her top opening window open slightly. She hates it being too warm and likes her fresh air. Her cat, Jimmy, can't get out of it...being too fat! lol. Anyway, she tells me that she has a new resident. A little bluetit. It must have gotten in through the window gap and had taken up residence in one of her plants that she keeps on the windowsill! Don't blame it, given the weather outside. The mog was barred from the living room and locked in the bedroom. He was not happy. lol Poor little bluetit. Must have been desperate to get away from the cold. Well, he flew off again, after a warm up, rest and nibble of food. Hope the little fella is ok. Can you believe that one of the residents at her place complained that she feeds the birds?

May have sorted out the camera. Junior, it turned out, was holding the box (and all the instructions) hostage in her bedroom, for some reason. lol I mentioned, again, that I couldn't find the box and she tells me 'Oh yes, it's in my room with all the Christmas pressie bags that we got'. Arghhh... Anyway, here are gratuitous photos of the white stuff.Henry and Tinks looking out at all this white stuff.

Henry and Bart doing the same. My finger is the shadow on top. lol

Have you seen all THAT? !!!

This was early this morning. Much, much worse later in the day

Junior

A young Junior. She'd been mucking about with the special effects. The kids spent hours on this.

Doing the Rezza recipe tomorrow AND I have a new gadget! Yay. Gadgets help me out. Rickety joints need help, especially mine! lol

We've had the heating on all day and I'm still not warm. Hot water bottles are awol....I suspect they are in a certain teenager's bedroom, under some pile of whatever! sigh... Why do I think this? I did a 'raid' earlier today and rescued half our mugs, glasses and dishes!

Friday, 18 January 2013

The white stuff is still falling. 20cm is on its way, apparently. Our garden room/lean-to is like a freezer! lol Pity it's where I keep the cat litters! lol The mogs don't hang about in there in this weather.

We have hedges at either side of the garden. It's long (the garden) and the hedges are high. You see, I haven't trimmed them this year...mostly because rheumatoid arthritis renders me useless nowadays in the DIY dept..... but the birds have been nesting in one of them.. a privet hedge. You're not allowed to trim hedges during certain times if birds are nesting in them...big fat fine if you get caught....so I haven't!.... Glad I haven't gotten the old strimmer out, given the weather. Poor little mites need all the help they can get. The mogs are mighty frustrated, though...sitting in the cat run...on their viewing shelves......behind the wiring.....so near and yet so far. You can almost hear the Tweety and Sylvester type conversations going on. lol

Did anyone hear me scream the other day?

Was cleaning out the cat litters when I, obviously, accidentally dropped a WHOLE bag of Tesco Value cat litter on my poorly, arthritic foot....which has an ingrowing, arthritic nail on the end of the big toe! Google arthritic toe and I bet you go 'Yuk' at the image. Anyway....yikes...brought tears to my eyes. Yes, I cried....more out of frustration. Even with bloody rheeumatoid arhritis, I hopped around that garden room like an Olympic gymnast! Junior was in the kitchen, at the front of the house...oblivious to Mummy's screams. lol. I eventually hobbled in and, bottom lip quivering, said 'I could've died in there and you would never have known'. Aye, tad dramatic, but you see how you feel with 10 litres of gravel flattening your foot from a great height. Funnily enough, it seems to have cured the pain in my ankle. Just got one foot bigger than the other now.

Gratuitous piccies.A young Junior

Olive...kipping. No guesses for who tucked her in. lol

Still trying to sort out the camera. Not enough hours in the day for all this techy malarky.

We did a Tesco on-line delivery order today. First time. Saves petrol and impulse spending. Got £12 off my first order. Woooo... We ordered what we need..supplies for the great Snow In! lol Have a Rezza recipe that I want to try. Spicy polenta and vegetables, so I ordered the ingredients. Rezza Mahammed is the author of Spice King of India. He comes over as such a nice chap and I like him. He has a nice, decent gentleness about him. I hate bolshy chefs. Such a turn off. Son No 1 got me his book for Crimble, so I am going to work my way through it...the veggie bits, that is.

Going to bed now...to defrost! The mogs and Cilla dog are up there already. Bed warming! lol

Monday, 14 January 2013

Apparently, we are in for a 'big freeze' week. Joy! I am glad that I work from home. Listening to my neighbours scraping away these last couple of mornings.....I feel sorry for them....then I snuggle back under the duvet with BIG cup of Earl Grey, specs on and internet tablet at hand!

Wouldn't it be lovely if we could share our weather out...globally..so those in need of water get it, those who need warmth, etc....

We recycle LOADS. Ought to have my face on the entrance at the old recycling place...we must be their best customers. Junior gets fed up of it all and a tad lazy. Recycling stuff ends up in normal bin bag. Noooooo....... Keep telling her it's all for her and her offspring. Don't want them to inherit such a polluted planet, do you? I get the 'Hmphhh'.

Gotta get to grips with my new camera. About time I put some piccies up here. It's boring without photos.

Am working on it...once I find the box that holds the instructions. My house is full of boxes, lately. Doesn't help when Junior 'tidies' and then swears blind that she hasn't touched said box! Sigh...

Saturday, 12 January 2013

Muppet is one of my Old Ladies. The other is her sister, Spooky. They are total opposites. Muppet is quiet and has only just decided to trust me, after 16 years. Spooky is very vocal, podgy and cantankerous! Muppet is quiet and shy and tiny..although she has recently been brave enough to sleep on my bed....along with the other mogs. She is sociable while her sister isn't..towards the other mogs that is. Spook and Muppet are big fans of Cilla dog...and do a regular cuddle up! lolSpooky, lounging!

Mupps....been reading Jackie Collins, it seems!!

Anyway, Mupps is not well. She's old and has developed breathing problems. I first thought that she was just snoring but it's not that. She's getting really old. Vet vist Monday. Don't want her to suffer, although she seems happy enough at the mo.

Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Happy New Year to all my family and friends. Hope 2013 brings you your heart's desire.

(If I ever win the lottery, I'll sort you all out! Promise. lol)
Spent a lovely evening with Son no 1 and his family. Had a Chinese takeaway and lots of fun, yacking! Little grand daughter is so lovely. Kept her Auntie Junior busy! lol

Got a new camera. Yay. Just got to figure it all out re the uploading of piccies. lol My eyesight is shot! Gets me down re the reading of instructions, but we'll get there!

All my lot are sparko! I have just wished Junior a Happy New Year. She is full of cold, bless her. Has taken a hot toddy of honey and lemon to bed. Olive cat is here, too....and Cilla dog...and she's busy burgling the cat biscuits! lol The rest are snoring away on my bed!

About Me

An ancient home-edding mum. Trying to be good to the world, owned hook line and sinker by far too many pets, doing my best to be vegan, into crafting/eco stuff, unorganised- I love my stuff too much to be minimalist, technophobe, now definitely needing specs much to my dismay, spiritual, kind, scatter-brained, going grey, extremely cantankerous at THAT time of the month, hate football, politics and bad manners. Wish I could paint and draw to a decent standard and get to grips with this computer malarkey!!